


Second Sight

by easternCriminal



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: AU, Foggy Nelson: Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, Gen, Post Season 2, Pre Season 3, Time Travel, but also beginning of season 1, foggy goes back in time, time travel am i right?, time travel fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-13 20:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19258801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/easternCriminal/pseuds/easternCriminal
Summary: Foggy Nelson wakes up several years in the past, before his life had gone sideways, before Daredevil, when Nelson and Murdock was still just a paper sign on a door. He's not sure how he got here, but he know's he's got to make the most of it, try to save as many lives as he can, and not accidentally butterfly effect the world into ending in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place after season 2 but before season 3 or the end of Defenders - so the Foggy of his time has developed a very struggling and difficult relationship with Matt before he wakes up in the past. I'll also be playing Calvinball with the time between events in canon, padding it a little to make it fit the time difference I want. Ultimately I'm not sure if I'll finish this but I really wanted to write this first chapter, so if you want more please let me know! I hope you enjoy the fic!

Foggy wakes up slowly and easily. The sun filters through his apartment - the same one that he’s lived in for five or so years now. It’s comfortable and familiar and ultimately a piece of his life that is constant. He takes that where he can get it. As awake version of consciousness kicks into gear his brain finally tunes back into the sound that had caused him to stir in the first place - his phone buzzing next to him, loudly announcing the start of the day. Still mostly bleary eyed, he reached over and grabbed it to turn off the alarm, surprised to find himself holding his old phone, the lock screen a picture of him and Matt during their last day at Landman and Zack, both running away from the building flipping it off. Matt’s staring off to the side of the camera, a rougish grin on his face, Foggy’s expression a little more frantic and scared but a breathless smile is there all the same. A bagel’s fallen out of his bag right as the picture is taken and is suspended in the air. 

He sighs and puts down the phone, groaning and running a hand down his face, trying to remember at what point last night he had started drinking, and how many he must have had if he had been drunk enough and sentimental enough to bring out his old phone, charge it, and decide to use it as his alarm clock today, yet still manage to avoid a hangover. It must be quite the magical amount. Foggy gave a small groan and turned off the phone, returning it to his nightstand drawer, where most of his odd and end items go, including his old electronics. It clattered next to the ipod shuffle and his first flip phone. 

Drunk him must have been crazy last night, thinking about putting on an alarm. It was Sunday and he wasn’t currently working on a case. He could almost image him last night, turning it on just to piss of future him. Well, jokes on last night him, this morning him was going to make the most of it. It was with this thought that finally pushed him out of bed and headed to the shower. Working entirely on autopilot, eyes barely even open as he began to get clean. He wasn’t sure whether or not the smell of whatever he must have had last night was sticking to him (and he deliberately tried not to think about how Matt would have known). 

Finally,  _ finally,  _ for the first time that morning, Foggy finally fully woke up as he began to wash his hair. Because there was definitely more there than he had last checked. Long flowing locks - well not quite the rapunzel level he had achieved in his college days, but around the shoulder length it used to be. Back in the day. 

Hair… did not grow overnight. No matter how much or how little alcohol one might have had. Foggy finished his shower as fast as he could, tossing on some clothes and snatching his brush - when was the last time he had to  _ brush _ his hair instead of using a comb? His mind was whirring with explanations from hair growth being a side effect to some supernatural crap to being trapped in a dream from some supernatural crap. Most of his thoughts converged around the idea of some supernatural crap. 

As Foggy burst back into his familiar room, eyes roaming around the furniture, playing a personal ‘spot the difference’ game with him himself, a soft, cheerful melody began to fill the room. A very familiar song. Foggy cautiously approached his nightstand drawer, almost afraid of what he was about to uncover. Before he could lose his nerve he reached out and jerked open the drawer. There was his old phone, merrily singing it’s happy little tune, shaking slightly as it rumbled. In clear letters the phone showed the incoming number, with the contact information of ‘Real Estate Lady - Susan’. 

With mildly trembling hands, Foggy reached out and picked up the phone, turning it on. 

“Hello Mr. Nelson! I hope you are having a good morning today.” The women voice on the other end cheerfully declared to Foggy’s numb ears. 

“Uh, yeah, something like that.” He felt like his mouth was full of sand. 

“I’m just calling to remind you that we’re meeting in an hour to check out the new place I mentioned to you the other day - I’m really excited about this one. I think we’ve finally found a place for you and your partner within your price range. I’ve sent you and Mr. Murdock the address.”

“That’s, uh, that’s great S-Susan.”

“I’ll see you in an hour then.” She hung on on the other side and Foggy sat down on his bed, letting the phone slip from his fingers and fall onto the floor. Susan. He hadn’t thought about her in… years. It must have been years. She had been him and Matt’s agent back before they had an office space, right after Landman and Zack. Foggy looked back at his old phone, sitting innocently on the floor, and reached for it with the hesitancy of someone picking up a bomb.

It turned to life in his hands, again showing that old lockscreen, and more importantly, the date. If he hadn’t already been sitting, he would have probably fallen down. Somehow, someway, he had gone back in time. He tried to sift through his memories, figure out what could have possibly caused this, but only came up metaphorically empty handed. By this point, Foggy’s life had gone so sideways, he just had to accept what had happened. Or had appeared to happen. The dream theory still had some merit. Or maybe it could be an alternate universe? He should be writing these down. 

But for now, at least, it looked like he had a meeting.

oOo

It was only halfway to their office (or soon to be office) that Foggy remembered to call Matt. He had already given Brett the cigars he had found in his room after doing some snooping in his own things, and had to pause to grab a coffee, thinking about how he might need to pick one up for Matt, before remembering how Matt had almost been late in the first place. Matt’s chronic lateness became more and more of a staple of his behavior as Nelson and Murdock progressed, but the least he could do was help a little bit. If this was real and Foggy was truly in the past, then he was in an extremely lucky and dangerous situation. 

On one hand, he could save countless lives, keep him friends for so much pain that was heading their way. Try to do things better this time. But on the other hand, he had no idea what little change could turn into something big. Just how far the butterfly effect of his action would stretch. Already he found himself agonizing over the choice he had made to pick up Matt from his apartment rather than meet up with him. What if such a simple action - going out of his way to make sure Matt was okay this morning, now knowing why he was running late and wanting to make sure his friend was okay - what if it resulted in Matt dead by the morning? 

Instead of letting his thoughts spiral, Foggy knocked on the door. 

Matt opened the door, and Foggy went reeling. 

It was such a… a normal picture. Like a tableau of a time he had thought was long past. Matt was smiling, staring just to the right of Foggy’s head, adjusting his tie, glasses still somewhat escew. His hair wasn’t quite combed back down and a small cut from his lip was still a red angry color. But his face was… lighter… happier than it had been when Foggy had last seen him. During some tense conversation after accidentally running into each other in the grocery store. 

“Hey… everything okay?” Him talking jerked Foggy back to the present (the past? Didn’t matter), and suddenly Foggy was extremely aware that this Foggy of this time would not simply stare at his best friend in mild disbelief.

“Oh! Everything’s fine - as long as you’re not going to make us late for Susan today. She made it sound like she might have found the place.” He did his best to put as much enthusiasm into his voice as possible and prayed that his heart wasn’t going to give him away, Technically he hadn’t said anything that was a complete lie. Matt’s head gave a slight tilt but his smile didn’t falter and he didn’t call Foggy out, instead walking back into his apartment.

“What can I say - I had a busy night last night.”

“And what was her name?” Foggy asked, he remembered this. This banter. From before he knew Matt’s secret, and how it goes. 

“Now Foggy, what makes you think I’d kiss and tell?”

“Something tells me you did a little more than kiss, Murdock.” He raised an eyebrow and Matt chuckled as he reached over for his suit jacket, running another hand through his hair. Matt went back to the front door, hand trailing lightly along the wall before finally hitting his walking stick, which had been resting innocently along the wall. He twirled it a little, a small cocky smile playing on his face before he reached out and grabbed Foggy’s arm.

It was only at the last second that Foggy remembered to bend his arm slightly for Matt’s hand to fit in. It had been.... So long since he had offered to guide Matt - since at  _ least _ the Frank Castle case, maybe even sometime before that. And here he was, at a time where Matt didn’t even have to ask for it, it was just a casual assurity.

They walked there, not bothering to call a cab, arm in arm, and Matt spoke to Foggy. His voice just rushed out like a small river in the woods, the words distantly familiar washing over Foggy. The conversation was warm as Matt told Foggy about his morning, his night, his ‘neighbors’ new arguments (Foggy now knew the Castelleno’s were actually two floors down from Matt living in a neighboring building). And it struck Foggy, like a smack to the back of his skull, that to Matt their friendship was still to  _ easy _ . It was like breathing. Natural and almost a necessity. Foggy had nearly forgotten it could be like this, so used to what they had transformed into over the years. Their friendship broken and repaired but fragile as glass. Fractures daring to break again. Full of fights and verbal tug-of-wars about safety and Matt and Daredevil. But now he was here. He was now. When Daredevil barely existed and Matt didn’t struggle to keep his two lives separate. 

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Matt asked, reaching a hand up to feel Foggy’s forehead - missing the mark and grazing the side of Foggy’s head before correcting his aim.

“Like you’re one to judge mister split lip.” Foggy replied. “But really, I’m fine, just having a hard time waking up is all.” Matt gave a hum that Foggy with his knowledge recognized as Matt’s way of saying that he had caught a lie, but was willing to let the liar be.

“No coffee this morning?” 

“Not yet.”

“Well then that’s one thing we can fix.” They stopped at the nearest Starbucks and picked up two drinks, meaning Matt had to fold up his cane, allowing Foggy to be his sole guide dog. The whole thing… it felt nice. Right.

If Foggy was going to do this he needed to  _ be _ this Foggy again, if only until he devised a game plan. He took a deep breath and tried to recall what it was like for life to be uncomplicated and for friendship to be easy.

oOo

They accepted the offer - course they did. And Foggy did his best not to seem overeager. They unpacked their things, Foggy put up the paper sign, and was filled with warmth as he read the words ‘Nelson and Murdock’. If he got a little teary eyed, well Matt couldn’t possibly know it wasn’t because they finally had their own office, but because Foggy had truly believed he would never have found himself in this particular office with this particular person again.

Afterwards, he walked home, bought a weekly planner, and stared at it’s blank pages. The obvious starting place here was to record what happens, going forward, so that this time they can be ready.

Foggy picked up a pen, and his hand stilled. His mind is blank.

And suddenly he’s curses himself. For allowing himself to move on, to heal, to let the memory of the hellish months that comprised this section of his life to scar over and slowly fade. That he had successfully gotten to the point where he no longer agonized himself by raking his mind over the still smoldering coals of the memories of these days, allowing them to cool and turn to light ash. 

If he was still this Foggy - heck - if he was even the Foggy a year from now - he probably would have told Matt. Without a second thought after he woke up. But he isn’t, he;s different now. Out of place in time.

He writes down what he does remember - landmarks in time. The day of the explosions, the day Elena died. The day Fisk is taken into custody. He jots down any possibly important facts about cases and people and tries to use what he does remember to fill in the things he half recalls and can’t pinpoint the precise day of. When the Punisher appears, the shooting in the DA’s office, the day that he had found Matt, bloody and half dead, in the Daredevil suit. And of course -

_ Bzzt Bzzt _

His phone rings.

Foggy answers it, already fully aware of what Brett is going to tell him. Because he knows there’s no way they - he - can do this without her.

Karen Page.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foggy meets Karen Page again, and tries to pretend things are normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slower chapter to get us to where we need to be in the future :)

Karen Page looks nothing like the Karen Page Foggy knows. He had forgotten how she was back here. Her eyes are red and puffy, her lip is trembling, and she looks at him and Matt when they enter like a caged animal. Like she’s not sure if they’re her executioners or not. Ever so lightly she shifts in her chair to put just barely more distance between herself and them. Matt cocks his head slightly to the side and Foggy guides his hand to the top of one of the chairs. He takes a deep breath and tries to decide if Matt is currently listening to the hammering of Karen’s heart or to the way that Foggy knows his is sputtering right now. Maybe both, Matt’s multi talented like that.

“Can we  _ please _ uncuff the 120 pound woman? We’d like to talk to our client civilly.” Foggy glares at the police officer who dutifully goes over and takes off the handcuff with a small begrudging sigh. “Alone.” Foggy says pointedly, fixing his gaze on the policeman. He can feel Matt shift his head next to him, adding his incredibly unnerving blind stare to the mix. Poor cop didn’t stand a chance, walking out of the room and finally giving them the chance they need to talk to Karen.

“Karen Page, my name is Matt Murdock and this is my Associate, Foggy Nelson, may we have a seat?” Karen bites her lip and looks off to the side, giving a small shrug. 

“Vague shrug,” Foggy fill in, almost whispering but loud enough that he knows Karen can hear him. “...I say we just go for it.” In almost perfect unison the pair of them take a seat and yes, yes this is how things should be. God, Foggy had missed Matt. 

“We understand you’ve run into some trouble, we believe we can help you Miss Page.” Matt says in a soothing but professional voice and Karen looks up with a guarded expression, one of her hands rubbing the hand that had been cuffed. 

“Would you tell us what happened?” Karen suddenly seems tot find the table incredibly interesting. “Why don’t we start with we know then?” Foggy glances back on the files they brought in and set on the table, eyes skimming over the case. Him and Matt had conferenced briefly on the way here, but they already pretty much knew how they were going to broach the subject. They’d been practicing this together long enough (For Foggy they had been actually doing this long enough at this point) that few words needed to actually be exchanged about their tactics. “You were found in your apartment with one Daniel Fischer. Well, his body.” Her breath hitches and Matt next to him barely twitches. 

“Currently, you’re the only suspect, Miss Page. Holding a knife over his dead body.” Her face transforms at Matts words and Foggy can see some of that fierce, fighter Karen in her rear its head. 

“Who the hell are you guys - why are you here?”

“I’m Matt, he’s Foggy.” A light smile quirks Matt’s lips. 

“We would like to be your lawyers. Usually the suits give it away.” Foggy adds.

“Who sent you here?” Her hands are balled into fists and her expression guarded, angry even.

“We sent ourselves, Miss Page.” Matt assures.

“So what, you guys are just… good samaritans?” She sniffs, and Foggy suddenly wishes that either of them had the forethought to bring tissues or were fancy enough to have pocket squares with their suits. 

“I bribed the desk sergeant with a box of cigars.” He says instead, and she looks at him somewhat dumbfounded. 

“Our practice is relatively young and we are  _ aggressively _ pursuing new clientele.” Matt says as explanation and then hisses at Foggy. “You have to stop giving Bess cigars.” 

“A woman has a right to smoke.” Foggy hisses back and then raises his head to look at Karen again. “But yes, we’re here because we can use all the clients we can get.”

“How long have you been practicing law?” She asks, eyebrows furrowing. 

“What time is it?” Matt asks and Foggy checks his watch.”

“12.22 am.” He says and Matt nods.

“About seven hours.”

“But a very productive and extremely reputable seven hours.” Foggy assures her and Karen practically deflates in her chair. 

“You mean you’ve never done this before?” Her voice is thick with emotion.

“We did go through vigorous schooling to get here, Miss Page. But yes, you would technically be our first.”

“But hey, you never forget your first.” Foggy interjects and Karen sits back, taking a watery breath. 

“I don’t have any money.” Okay, time to go a little bit off script.

“Miss Page, we’re not interested in money.” He can feel Matt turn to look at him - he’s surprised him. He had to tread carefully, he doesn’t want Matt getting too suspicious. Thus far, most of his plan involves leaving Matt out of it - he has enough problems and the last thing he needs is Matt getting into even more trouble before it’s even a real thing. He’ll be the one to protect Matt this time around. He pushes forward with the conversation. 

“Karen, can I call you Karen?” She gives a slow nod, and he can tell he’s surprised her too. “The thing is… I believe you’re innocent. No, Karen, I know you’re innocent. And Karen, what’s most important to me is getting you out of here, and clearing your name.” Her eyes are slightly wide and he dares to reach forward - he doesn’t take her hand, but he leaves it in the middle area, the no man’s land of the table. 

“Karen, we just believe in the truth. And we believe in getting you out.” Matt is nothing if not quick on his feet. “Now can you please tell me what you can remember?” 

 

oOo

 

Foggy doesn’t remember much, but he does remember almost everything about Karen’s case. And it’s with a heavy heart that he talks to Matt, because he’s not just talking. He’s wasting time, distracting them as they talk over the case. Waiting for Karen to almost be murdered. It sucks. 

“Pro bono, huh?” Matt says after they do a little back and forth on what their game plan is going to be. Foggy knows his, but discusses the case anyways to maintain the idea that he isn’t a Foggy magically from a future with knowledge of things that will be and have yet to be. 

“I know it’s not the best way to start a business, but I just… I feel good about Karen. She can help out around the office or something. And the best advertising money is what money can’t buy - word of mouth.” Foggy nods his head as if that will help convince Matt. Matt get’s a small smile on his face and turns to Foggy’s direction. 

“Foggy I think, I think you’re right. I want to help Miss Page out.” Foggy gave Matt a light elbow. 

“Or maybe you just know she’s hot. You can always tell.” Foggy teased, and Matt full on laughed. 

“I’m blind, Foggy.” 

“Why do you think it’s so spooky?!” Foggy tossed his hands up in the air in a show of exasperation. “Matt you can’t see but I am giving you such an ‘I’m done with this’ face right now. Like, it’s really a high quality expression.” Matt gave another small laugh and let his hands drift over the files of Karen Page and her case, and seemed to be about to make a reply, but instead his voice went quiet and his eyebrows furrowed. Shortly after, the door slammed open. Karen Page had almost been killed in her cell.

Instantly both of their hackles rose Foggy gave a small, grim frown. Time to get Karen out of here.

 

oOo

 

Karen was going home with Matt. It was safer that way, and Foggy was about 90% sure that had a lot to with Karen’s first encounter with the Masked Man/Daredevil. Foggy went home. Well, to a certain kind of home. He certainly hesitated around Josies for a bit, pacing back and forth in front of the door. But it was still a little too early to be drinking, even if you did accidentally time hop. Instead Foggy went somewhere that was the same no matter what time he was in. 

Nelsons Meats smelled the same, the bell that rung when he opened the door was the same, and the face of Theo behind the counter giving him a bright smile was the same. His hair was a little shorter than it was when Foggy had last seen him, but that was easy to overlook, easy to pretend that Foggy was beck when he belonged if he squinted and turned his head to the side. 

“Hey, Fogman!” He gave a genuine smile as he leaned on the counter. “Didn’t expect to see you here today.” 

“Yeah, I have some good news I wanted to share. Where’s mom and dad?” Foggy glanced around the small shop and had to assume their were either out or in the back. 

“They’re in the back sorting inventory, you know, just a typical Monday here at Nelson’s Meats.” Theo said casually as he walked around the counter, taking off off white apron and clapping his hands down on Foggy’s shoulders. “But lets take a minute and look at you bro! Quite the suit you’ve got there - I mean I’ve seen the pictures but I haven’t seen it in person yet. You really do look almost presentable now.” He flicked Foggy’s long locks and raised an eyebrow. 

“You’re just jealous my hair is the work of a Disney princess.” Foggy replied and went in to give Theo a big hug, the scent of pine clinging to his brother’s flannel shirt. 

“Is that my Foggy I hear?” The sweet voice, full of love, accompanied his mother and father as they came out from the back room, his dad stretching his arms a bit from all the heavy lifting he must have been doing. Without a single word his dad went in for a hug, lightly running his hand over the back of Foggy’s head. His mom’s strong arms came soon after. This was the Nelson way, always start with a hug, always leave with a hug. Remember to say I love you. Be there for each other. 

“Now what brings you all the way out here son?” His dad led him over to one of the tables and brought out a couple of glasses, holding up a bottle of whiskey. Foggy gave a small nod and his dad poured the four of them glasses. Foggy took a small moment to appreciate his father, back here, before the arthritis gets bad. It’s one of the few things that will occur in the upcoming months and years that Foggy can’t fix. There’s no cure for aging. 

“Me and Matt have finally found an official office space.” There’s immediately a shrill cry of delight and his mother reached forward to wrap her arms around him again, over to the table, and gives him two firm kisses on the cheek. 

“I am so proud of you! You two are going to do great things.”

“We actually already have our first client.” His father banged his fist on the table, a smile full of pride breaking out over his face. 

“Well done! Already off to a great start. I knew the moment you met that Murdock boy that he was going to help you find where you belong.” Foggy gave a watery smile, and nodded, taking a drink of the whiskey to try and chase away the tears that were pricking at his eyes. 

“Enough about me. I want to hear about what’s new with you guys.” Foggy let the familiar sounds of his family telling him the ins and outs of the meat business for a while, as the sun sunk deep into the horizon. It helps to right himself out after such a sideways day. It centers him. After hugging each of them and letting them know he’d be in touch Foggy went off into the night. 

He goes back to the office instead of home and begins to collect the files that he knows they’re going to need in the upcoming months. Foggy runs his hands through his hair that feel incorrect and out of place. Red light from outside filters into the small room, he looks out and pretends that he can make out Matthew somewhere in that night. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foggy takes care of Matt. Karen is a free woman.

Foggy comes into the office in the morning, and though his voice is chipper Matt can smell how strong his coffee is, can sense how he carries himself with an amount of weariness, slightly slumped, and his feet are more of a shuffle than usual. When Matt first came in he could tell that Foggy had spent most of the night here, the smell of his cologne and sweat still clinging to the office. He had to wonder how much sleep Foggy had even gotten, if he had spent all of the morning working on Karen’s case. A small amount of guilt gnawed at him - the flash drive along with the person he had dropped off at the Bulletin should take care of most of this case for them. He’d have to make it up to Foggy somehow.

“Oh hey Matt,” Foggy said, pulling Matt from his thoughts as he shuffled over, rubbing his eyes. “...good morning.” He heard Foggy give a little sigh and come closer, reaching out and gently grabbing one of Matt’s hands. “Fall down some stairs?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah. It was rainy yesterday and I slipped.” Matt said, and for once Foggy didn’t question the story, just kind of turned his hand with it’s broken skin and bloody knuckles over in his hands. 

“I’ll be right back.” Foggy goes back into his office and sifts through his bag before returning and pulling up a chair for each of them. “Okay, let me see them again.” Mutely Matt offered his hand while Foggy opened the small box he had obtained and the strong smell of alcohol filled the small room. “Hold still.” Foggy said needlessly as he began to clean the small wounds. They were nothing really, nothing compared to his cracked ribs and fractured wrist. 

“Since when do you keep a first aid kit in the office?” Foggy gave a small hum of acknowledgement as he brandaged the knuckles. 

“You’ve been so clumsy lately - and we’re a prestigious law firm! We need to be looking our best!” ba-lub. A lie. But Matt couldn’t think of any other reason, or why this would be the kind of thing Foggy would need to lie about. Matt moved one of his thumbs to brush again Foggy’s wrist, but felt nothing. Didn’t clear up that suspicion but at least helped him to not be too concerned about it. He’d have to keep looking into it. 

Foggy had been… odd yesterday. He had known Foggy for a long time, he knew his mannerisms and behaviors and the way he’d been distant, and quiet. Instead Foggy ran his fingers across the now bandaged knuckles, quiet and thoughtful. 

“Be careful Matt.” He said, quietly, and solemnly. His heart was thumping loudly, and Matt wished he could see Foggy’s face, because maybe if he could match up the tone of his voice to the expression of his face he might be able to figure out what Foggy was really saying. 

“Foggy are-” Before Matt could ask his question Karen came in, breathless and eyes wide, the distinct crinkle of newspaper accompanied by the strong smell of news ink. 

“Uh, hey, I just.” She took a few deep gulps of air. “You left without me this morning.” She changes her sentence, and Matt can feel her eyes on him. He gives a shrug. 

“You looked like you needed the sleep.” He can sense her nod her head, her hair brushing against her shirt. 

“She just nodded.” Foggy leans over and whispers, packing up the first aid kit.

“Did you guys see the news?” The newspaper rustles. 

“No.” Matt says plainly, and then lets a small smile quirk at his lips and he hears Karen’s heart stutter briefly. 

“I’m so-”

“Don’t apologize to him Karen, he’s just being facetious.” Foggy swats at Matt’s arm and takes the newspaper, looking it over. 

“Union Allied Exposed?” He reads out the headline. “Wait a minute.” There’s a moment of relative quiet as Foggy skims through the article, the paper tightening as he gets further and further. His heartbeat is steady. “Karen this is… this does all the work for us! You’re innocent!” He throws his hands up in the air and his voice sounds joyful, and Karen lets out a breath. Almost a sob. Foggy’s heartbeat is steady. “I-I can’t believe this.” Foggy breathes out. 

“What does it say?” Matt asks anxiously. He already knows as Karen and Foggy explain how the case has changed. The exposure of everything about what had happened to Karen, how she had been framed, coming to light. All thanks to the information left on the steps to the Bulletin. Matt smiles, feeling better, knowing that he made the right call. 

“This calls for a victory toast!” Foggy declares, holding his hand high in the air, and Karen laughs, voice still thick with emotion.

“Foggy it’s 8 am.” Matt replies, already standing up and grabbing his bag. 

“In the immortal words of the great philosopher James Buffet - It’s five o’clock somewhere.” Foggy replied and grabbed both of their hands, pulling them out of the office alongside him. Foggy’s heartbeat, despite all the news, all the emotions, despite the fact that suddenly out of nowhere their first client was free… it remained steady.

 

oOo

  
  


“And then… and then he just, straight up chucked the entire pizza out the window!” Foggy yelled, his voice a little high pitched as he buckled over slightly, laughing. 

“It had a weird smell!” Matt defended with a small smile, his cheeks a rosy color. 

“Okay, even I can agree with that and my sniffer isn’t half as good as Matt’s. But that’s besides the point.” Foggy took a sip from his glass. “So it turns out that the girl that he was currently dating had been right outside the window, gearing up to do some huge romantic jukebox-over-her-head level serenade. And the entire - and I mean entire - box of crappy pizza with it’s too much tomato sauce and copious amounts of half molten cheese dumped all over her.” Both of Matt’s hands were over his face as he made several groaning sounds. 

“Grace was a nice girl.” He bemoaned, looking up at the ceiling, and Karen let out a loud boisterous laugh. 

“So I take it that you broke up after that.” Karen said, nursing her own drink. Matt’s head hit the counter and Foggy gave him a pat on the back. 

“He wishes - she stayed around for at least two months after the pizza incident. But one of the clothing items that was sadly a casualty of the event happened to be her favorite scarf, and while I thought it was fine-”

“It smelled like the crappy pizza the rest of the time we were together!” Matt interjected, his nose scrunching up just at the memory. 

“But poor Matt here didn’t want to break up with her because he’s never had to actually break anything off on his own before. You know, usually it just kind of took care of itself.”

“Please tell me you didn’t ghost her?” Karen pleaded, and when Matt just adjusted his glasses and stuttered for a minute straight Karen let another laugh bubble up through her. 

“So then he ghosts her right, for like a month or something, and then she’s PISSED. So she instead asks him to come talk things over with him. An easy out right?”

“Right.” Karen confirmed. 

“Wrong!” Foggy waved his hands in the air and clapped a hand on Matt’s shoulder. 

“She, uh, she set me up and found the same place we’d gotten the pizza from and dumped it all over me.” Matt said, sliding his hands up behind his glasses to rub at his face. 

“Oh my gosh.” 

“And we’ve already established the smell from this pizza place is not so easily vanquished by a simple washing.” Foggy interjected.

“I had to throw away that entire outfit. Nothing I did could get rid of it. It’d just, like, combine with it. It made it stronger and worse.” Karen snorted a little bit. So Matt was obvious very sensitive to scents. She wondered if this place bothered him. The bar that Foggy had insisted they go to - apparently it was some sort of tradition with a long standing tab - was a little dingy place called Josies’ where she was supposed to not question what alcohol was served to them. It was nice and had character, but she doubted it was the cleanest place on the planet. At least for Matt’s sake it didn’t serve pizza. 

“So, Karen, in light of the recent event of you becoming a free person, we we’re wondering…” Matt preambled, and Foggy interjected, cutting to the chase.

“Do you want to work for us?” His eyes were wide and he had a broad grin. She found herself taken aback. 

“I- I mean-” Karen stuttered and Matt placed a hand on Foggy’s shoulder as if to calm him down.

“We understand if you don’t or if you need time to think about it. But we figure that at least while you’re in between jobs having a place to go in the days would be nice. We can’t pay much, right now at least.” Matt made the last part sound like an admission. Karen stared at the ice left in her glass, before looking back up. Matt seemed nervous, and Foggy excited and she thought about Union Allied which had been stable but… clinical. She thought about the look on her fathers face the last time she had seen him. It would be nice… to be somewhere that she, Karen Page, was wanted. 

“You know what, why not.” A bright, genuine smile broke out on Matt’s face and Foggy rose his hands high in the air. 

“Yes! Josie - we have just had our second victory today this calls for another celebratory round!” The old woman behind the bar rolled her eyes even as a small smile tugged at her lips. Karen closed her eyes, and breathed for what felt like the first time in a long time.

 

oOo

 

Foggy glanced at his notebook on his lap and put a checkmark next to Karen’s name. This was going to be different, trying to rebuild a friendship that he felt like should already be there, but he’d muddle through it somehow. There was a lot he needed to get done, but no matter what, Foggy knew he was right where he needed to be. His little list of things he could be taking care of immediately had to be divided into categories and subcategories. Ranging from looking into Elena to see how he could help her out now, to try and dig up the Fisk information ahead of time. It was going to be a long haul - a lot of this groundwork had been handled by Matt or Karen last time. With any luck, he could manage to get through most of this mess without getting them too involved. 

His pencil scratched as he wrote down a few more notes and Foggy glanced up again, just to make sure… nothing. He pursed his lips and on a separate page crossed out the current date. 

The cheery sound of the carousel filled the rest of his afternoon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading - I hope you all are having a fantastic day!


End file.
